The World Steel Association (worldsteel) expects steel demand to contract by 5.4 percent in 2020 to 1.654 billion metric tons. The latest Short Range Outlook forecasts a recovery to 1.717 billion tons in 2021, a 3.8 percent increase over this year. Commenting on the outlook, Chairman of the worldsteel Economics Committee Al Remeithi said: “The […]
Join us for CRU’s 5th Annual New York Steel Briefing, now virtual, featuring the outlook for steel and how to manage through volatile markets. Date: Tuesday, June 23, 2020 Time: 10:00 – 11:00 AM EST Overview: The Covid-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented disruption across domestic and global commodity markets, with steel among those most impacted. With scenarios for a post-pandemic outlook […]
Some companies are faring better than others during the coronavirus pandemic, and ecommerce B2B platform Reibus is one of them. “Nothing much happened in the last couple weeks of March and the first couple weeks of April, but since then we have been doing great. We’re well ahead of budget for the year despite COVID-19,” […]
Census Bureau data for downstream steel product shipments lags but supports American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) data for crude steel production. The Census Bureau provides monthly data on manufacturing inventories, shipments and new orders for total U.S. manufacturing and for individual industries, one of which is steel products. Therefore, the Census Bureau provides a […]
There was positive net job creation in May following April’s disastrous report. The May jobs report was released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday, after which the N.Y. Times reported: “Employers added 2.5 million jobs in May, defying economists’ expectations of further losses and offering hope that the rebound from the pandemic-induced economic […]
In May, manufacturing gained back 17 percent of April’s job losses, while construction gained back 47 percent, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The net change in employed persons was negative 20.7 million in April and positive 2.5 million in May. Table 1 breaks total employment down into service and goods-producing industries […]
This week’s SMU comparison of foreign and domestic hot rolled prices shows that U.S prices remain advantageous over foreign imports, but at a slightly lesser level compared to mid-May figures, according to SMU and CRU indices. The price gap between domestic HRC compared to German imports is just over $100 per ton, while the Italian […]
By CRU Prices Analyst George Pearson, from CRU’s Steel Monitor Sheet prices in the U.S. Midwest market have continued to rise with HR coil assessed at $510 /s.ton, a w/w gain of $23 /s.ton. While prices are higher, overall volume of transactions has been limited. This is due not only to low demand and plentiful […]
Rates of contraction eased in the latest analysis of global manufacturing by J.P. Morgan and IHS Markit. The J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI rose to 42.4 in May from 39.6 in April, but remained well in contraction territory. “Rates of contraction for many of the survey variables, including output, new orders, new export business, quantity […]
Join us for CRU’s 5th Annual New York Steel Briefing, now virtual, featuring the outlook for steel and how to manage through volatile markets. Date: Tuesday, June 23, 2020 Time: 10:00 – 11:00 AM EST Overview: The Covid-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented disruption across domestic and global commodity markets, with steel among those most impacted. With scenarios for a post-pandemic outlook […]
Steel prices inched upwards during the month of May following price increase announcements by the mills, with the SMU hot rolled index reaching $500 per ton last week. Scrap prices increased over April, as did zinc and aluminum prices. SMU Buyers Sentiment Index readings increased over April, with Current Sentiment coming back into positive territory […]
Harry Moser’s phone and email have been ringing off the hook. Moser is the founder and president of the Reshoring Initiative, whose mission is to convince companies to bring manufacturing, and manufacturing jobs, back to America. Reshoring was already gaining momentum prior to the coronavirus outbreak, but the pandemic has infected the marketplace with a […]
The Institute for Supply Management’s May Report on Business showed improvement, with the manufacturing PMI rising to 43.1 percent from a reading of 41.6 percent the previous month. The PMI score was at a contraction level not seen since April 2009, but the slight uptick was a promising sign. Manufacturers, however, continue to be guarded regarding […]
The Chicago Business Barometer dropped to 32.3 in May, indicating further pressure on the manufacturing sector due to the COVID-19 crisis. The barometer was at its lowest level since March 1982. After seeing a dramatic drop in demand during April, new orders fell 2.3 points in May. Production fell 6.3 percent putting the index at […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) steel and financial futures markets was written by Jack Marshall of Crunch Risk LLC. Here is how Jack saw trading over the past week: Steel There’s been more muted trading as the market reflects lower volumes and takes a more cautious wait-and-see approach. Lately the focus […]
By CRU Prices Analyst George Pearson, from CRU’s Steel Monitor In the U.S. Midwest, sheet prices have continued to strengthen while plate prices have weakened further. HR coil prices increased for the third consecutive week, albeit by just $5 /s.ton to $487 /s.ton. The volume-weighted average of transactions remains below recent mill targets of $500 […]
New data from U.S. Federal Reserve Districts shows economic activity declined in all regions of the country in April and May due to disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Almost all areas of economic activity were negatively impacted during the period. Most districts reported a severe drop in manufacturing activity with production especially weak in […]
Covid-19 restrictions kept consumers and businesses from buying big ticket items last month, causing manufactured durable goods orders to plummet 17.2 percent in April. The new data from the Commerce Department follows a 16.6 percent decline in orders during March. Transportation orders, always a volatile data point, plunged 47.3 percent in April. The auto industry […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive members. For information on how to upgrade to a Premium-level subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. Global steel production in April, excluding China, was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. But by April, China was two months into a recovery. China produced a record 62 percent […]
Mark Bula is well known in steel circles for his role in a past startup now known as Big River Steel. Bula recently joined a new startup whose mission is not making steel, but rather making steel more safely. Bula recently accepted a position as chief strategy officer and general manager of steel for Everguard.ai, […]
By CRU Economists Jumana Saleheen and Economist Yingrui Wang, from CRU’s Steel Metallics Monitor Special Feature: China will set out its major economic objectives and policy goals for 2020 at the National People’s Congress. We expect fiscal stimulus of 5-8 percent of nominal GDP to be announced, half the size of the stimulus that followed […]
The U.S. dollar weakened against 11 of the 16 steel trading nation currencies in the last 30 days, through May 18. The biggest change was that the Brazilian real headed in the other direction and declined by 9.2 percent. The effect of the coronavirus pandemic was not evident at the three-month level when the dollar […]
Yesterday’s SMU Community Chat drew nearly 500 attendees to hear John Anton, associate director of the IHS Markit Pricing and Purchasing Service, give his analysis of the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on the U.S. economy and steel market. His presentation prompted nearly two dozen questions from listeners, too many to cover during the Q&A portion of […]
SMU contributor Tim Stevenson is a partner at Metal Edge Partners, a firm engaged in Risk Management and Strategic Advisory. In this role, he and his firm design and execute risk management strategies for clients along with providing process and analytical support. In Tim’s previous role, he was a Director at Cargill Risk Management, and […]
Demand for design services at architectural firms plummeted in April, dragging the Architecture Billings Index down to 29.5 and its lowest level in the history of the index, said the American Institute of Architects. The ABI follows March’s record decline of 20.1 points to 33.3. New project inquiries and design contract indices also declined significantly, […]
Now more than ever the steel industry must come together to navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic. Steel Market Update hopes to help by promoting a sense of community among producers, distributors, buyers, vendors and their customers. SMU’s Executive newsletter now includes this periodic community news roundup where we report on the human side of the pandemic. […]
The economic downturn in the U.S. will continue for the rest of this year, says the Institute for Supply Management in their Spring 2020 Semiannual Economic Forecast, based on survey responses from manufacturing purchasing and supply executives. The COVID-19 crisis has cast a shadow over the manufacturing sector that is unlikely to lift until the […]
Manufacturing activity in May continued to deteriorate in New York State, according to the May 2020 Empire State Manufacturing Survey. The general business conditions index posted at -48.5, but did gain 30 points from April’s record lower. Sixty-three percent of the firms reporting said that conditions had worsened in May, while 15 percent saw some […]
This week’s SMU comparison of foreign and domestic hot rolled prices shows that U.S prices remain advantageous over foreign imports, albeit slightly less so than late-April figures, according to SMU and CRU indices. The price gap between domestic HRC compared to German and Italian imports remains over $100 per ton, as has been the case […]
Like producers and distributors of prime steel, most sellers of nonprime or secondary steel have been hard hit by the virus. Yet secondary material is still available from the mills even though their production is way down. Some distributors are doing surprisingly well, depending on their customer base and location, while others are struggling. Secondary […]